Letting Go
by McDumbles
Summary: Henry has moved to Boston to live with Emma, but a week later he starts having second thoughts. He is missing what, and more importantly who, he has left behind. Ch. 1 sees Regina saying goodbye to Henry. How will she cope with the thought of losing Henry to Emma forever? Can she go on without him? Rating is for something that happens to Regina.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This story is pre-curse breaking._

* * *

Regina watched heartbrokenly as Henry and Emma walked up and down the stairs, carrying a carful of Henry's things out to Emma's yellow bug. It hurt Regina to see how happy her son was, knowing he was about to leave her for good and move to Boston to be with Emma. Did he really hate her that much?

"This is the last box," Emma said as she descended the stairs. "Henry are you sure this is everything?"

"Yep, it's all there." He smiled up at her.

Regina bit her lip and shifted her gaze towards the ground. She did not like this new arrangement one bit, it broke her heart to have to give up Henry. He was the only family she had in the world and the only person she loved, but she had no choice; he did not love her. He was depressed living here, and she needed to let him go in order give him the happiness he deserved. Even if it meant destroying her own.

As Emma left the house Henry walked over to Regina who cleared her throat and looked down at him, trying to give him a smile. "You don't have to do this you know," she said. " It's not too late to change your mind and stay here."

"No it's ok, I want to go."

She crouched down to meet him at eye level. "Are you completely sure? You want to leave Storybrooke, your school, your house..." she was about to say 'and me' but she stopped herself because she knew he wouldn't change his mind because of her. In fact she was the reason he had decided to leave in the first place.

"Ya, I'm sure." Henry grinned, clearly excited to leave.

Regina's voice softened and she tried to hold back her tears. "Ok, let's go outside then." She lifted her hand to Henry's shoulders in order to guide him out of the house but then stopped herself. This was a habit she had picked up a long time ago, maybe he didn't like it when she did this? She dropped her hand and instead she just followed closely behind him as he made his way to the road.

Once he reached it he turned back to her."Well, umm... bye!"

She paused for a moment and then reached down and pulled him into the most meaningful hug she had ever given him. It took Regina a few seconds, but when she was finally able to speak she whispered, "Goodbye Henry. I love you." Her voice cracked as she tried even harder than before to hold back her tears, but her eyes were filling up so fast. She never wanted this moment to end, she just wanted to stand here and hold Henry for the rest of her life. Why did he have to leave? She didn't want him to go, she had thought he would stay with her always, to be the one person who would never abandon her. But she had been so wrong. Henry beamed up at her and started to extract himself from her arms. Sliding into the passenger seat, he shut the door and fastened his seatbelt while Emma started the engine.

"Bye Regina!" Emma smiled. This caused anger and resentment to boil up inside the Mayor. How dare she. Emma had ripped Henry away from her, the son she loved more than anything else in the world, and Emma was acting as cheery as could be.

Henry waved at Regina through the open window and the car began to pull away.

"I'll miss you." She said, though she was sure it had been too quiet for him to hear. Trying her best to force a smile for Henry, Regina waved back as they drove away. As soon as the yellow car turned the corner the tears began to fall rapidly down her face. Crossing her arms tightly, she breathed a heavy sigh of despair and turned to go back into her house. Alone once again.

* * *

_Thank you for reading! I know it is short but I got the idea at about 1:00 in the morning and just had to write it down. I hope you enjoyed it!_


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since Henry had moved in with Emma. It was about 9:30 PM and Henry was sitting on the bed in his new room with his storybook lying open in front of him. Henry however, was paying no attention to the words in front of him, and was instead staring absent-mindedly over the top of the book.

Lost in his thought, he didn't notice that Emma had entered the room until she came to stand right beside him.

"Henry? What's up, didn't you hear me?"

Henry snapped out of his reverie and looked up at her, "sorry no."

"I said it's time to get ready for bed. You don't want to be tired on your first day of school."

"Ok. Sure. Whatever." He got up and went to the dresser, half-heartedly searching for his pajamas.

"Hey are you ok?" Emma walked over to him and touched his arm.

Henry nodded.

"Are you worried about the new school? Afraid that you won't make friends or won't like your teachers? Because it's ok to be scared, everyone is afraid of change."

"No it's not the school."

"Then what is it?" Emma asked softly.

Henry shrugged.

"You can tell me, maybe I can help." Emma sat down on the bed.

Henry turned from the dresser and saw her notice the page he had been reading; she pulled it onto her lap and looked down at it. It was the very beginning of Regina's story. The one where she had saved little Snow White from the horse, and the one where she had lost her true love. The ten year old took a seat beside her and stared down at the book too.

Emma looked up at him, "you miss her don't you?"

Henry stayed silent for a few moments, gathering his thoughts. "I thought she was the problem, and maybe she is... but. I don't know..."

"Are you still unhappy?"

Henry avoided her gaze.

"Everything is still new here, once you get used to it I promise it will be better. You do like it here don't you?"

"Ya, I do. And the past week was really cool, but I think... I think I want to go back to Storybrooke.

"What?" Emma was shocked. She put the book down on the other side of the bed and turned to fully face Henry. "Are you sure?" Her eyes were round and filling quickly with sadness.

"Storybrooke has always been home and I love it there. I thought it would be easy to leave because I would get to be with you and nothing could be better than that. And I thought it would be awesome to live in the city, which it is... but... I think I'd rather come here to visit instead of living and going to school here. I like _my_ school_._ I like _my_ room. And I kind of... I think I... I really miss my mom. I know what I've said about her before but... I don't think she deserves to be alone."

Emma could feel tears swimming in her eyes. She had no idea Henry had been so upset. He had seemed so happy over the past week.

"Well, I agree with you there," she said. "I don't think anyone deserves to be alone. But you have to remember the reason you left in the first place. If you go back now everything will be the same. Here you have a fresh start. I know so much change at once is scary, but once you give it a chance I'm sure you will love your new school just as much as your old one, and you'll grow to feel at home here too."

"Maybe."

"Tell you what, why don't you call her? Maybe that will make you feel better."

"I don't know what I would say to her."

"Say anything, I'm sure she would just be happy to hear your voice."

"What if she is mad at me for leaving?"

"She won't be. Was she mad at you when we left?"

"I don't think so..."

"So she won't be now, trust me." Emma smiled. "I'll go get the phone, in the meantime why don't you put your pajamas on? I'll be right back."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Henry stared down at the phone. His hands were clammy as he tried to summon the courage to dial the number.

Emma had left the room to give him some space and through the silence he could hear his own heart beating rapidly in his chest. What was he so afraid of?

He finally began to dial the number, and then held the phone up to his ear, waiting.

It rang...

And rang...

And rang until finally the answering machine picked it up and Regina's voice spoke in that very professional manner of hers. "You have reached the Mills residence. We can't come to the phone right now but please leave a message and either Henry or myself will get back to you." Beeep.

Henry's eyes filled with tears. It had been hearing her voice that had done it; hearing her voice but knowing he couldn't talk to her just made him miss her even more. He quickly hit the redial button but the same message played again. He flung the phone onto the bedside table and curled up on his bed, trying not to cry. Why did he feel like this? He hated her, so why was he missing her?

It was now that she was finally gone that he realised how much he actually did love her. He was even missing the small things. Like how she would nag him to finish his homework before doing anything else after school, or how she would check in on him before going to bed, or how she would always ask him to not leave his things lying around the house and would threaten to take away his dessert for that evening if he didn't, but then often ended up putting away whatever object it was herself and still giving him some ice cream or cookies after dinner.

"Henry!" Emma's voice came from the hallway, she had heard the crash from the phone hitting the lamp on the table and had come to make sure he was ok. "What happened? Did you talk to her already?" She sat down beside him.

"There was no answer." Henry's voice was shaky. He rolled over to face Emma and she felt a pang as she noticed the tears falling down his face.

"Ohh I'm sorry Henry. We can try again in the morning. Why don't you try to get some rest."

"Can we go back? To Storybrooke?"

"Don't you think you should give Boston another week at the very least? You wanted to leave Storybrooke. I'm sure you'll like it here if you give it a chance."

"No, I want to go back. Can we? Please Emma, it won't take that long."

Emma studied his face, she saw his eagerness and understood what he meant. "Wait. Do you mean tonight? You want to go back to Storybrooke _tonight_? Henry that's crazy, we wouldn't get there until the middle of the night."

"So? I don't care, I need to go back. I should never have left Storybrooke. I'm sorry Emma."

"No don't be sorry, it's ok to be homesick. But I think we need to be rational here. It would take a few hours to pack up all of your stuff. It's already getting late and by the time we got there it would be like 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning."

"But Emma..."

"Look Henry, you're tired. How about you sleep on it and in the morning if you feel the same way, if you're absolutely sure you don't want to stay here, I promise we'll talk about going back. Sound ok?"

Henry sniffed. "I guess so..."

Emma smiled, "come here." She held out her arms and he sat up to hug her. She held him tightly. She didn't want to let him go back, she knew he had left for good reason in the first place. Although she couldn't force him to stay with her she didn't want him to make any hasty decisions either. Not so soon after such a big change.

Henry pulled away and wiped his tears away with his sleeve.

"Do you want to try to get some sleep now?" Emma asked.

Henry nodded and Emma stood up so he could slide under the covers.

"'Night Emma."

"Goodnight Henry." She pulled the covers up to his chin even though he had told her every other night that he was too old to be tucked in. Tonight however, he didn't argue.

Emma closed the door behind her and Henry stared at it for a few moments before turning off the lamp beside him. In his mind he replayed what he had heard on the answering machine: _"...please leave a message and either Henry or myself will get back to you..." _

_"...the Mills residence."_

_"...either Henry or myself..."_

That's how it had always been, just the two of them. Maybe if he had stopped to think about all the good times they'd had, if he had stopped pushing her away and just tried to get through to her, things never would have turned out this way. He knew she had good in her, he just needed to help her bring it back out. He also knew she still loved him, and maybe that was enough.

Henry spent the next hour staring at wall as the sounds of the late night traffic and the occasional siren kept him company. He had never felt so guilty, or so homesick, in all his life. He kept remembering the way his mother had hugged him the previous week. She had been so desperate to have just a few more minutes with him, and he simply left her, without a care in the world.

As sleep finally began to take over, the last image he saw before slipping away into his dreams was one of Regina.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you like it! Don't worry, Regina will make a re-appearance in the next chapter. _

_I wasn't sure if I was going to post this because I liked the story the way it was. But then once I decided to post, I didn't know if I should post it as a new story or not because it is a continuation, but the new ideas didn't really seem to fit the title. I think the later chapters will still make sense for the title though. I hope I made the right decision :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_**One Week Ago: **_

Regina leaned against the front door that had just closed behind her; her palms and forehead resting against the cool white surface.

That was it, he really had left. What on earth was she going to do now? She had been trying so hard to win his affection back, but her efforts had come too late. He was gone forever. Sure she would get to see him again occasionally, but it would never be the same as it used to. To Henry, she would be just like one of those distant relatives whom you have to visit with at least once a year at holidays, even though you really couldn't care less.

Summoning up the will to make herself move, she turned around and took in the room in front of her. The foyer was exactly as it had been only a few minutes ago, and yet everything looked completely wrong and out of place. Henry's absence from the house caused the whole meaning of _"home"_ to change. Home should be the place where one's family is, but Regina Mills no longer had a family, and therefore she had no home.

She began to move forward but had no idea of what to do next. As a result, she ended up just slowly walking throughout the house. It was far too quiet, and felt way too big for only one person.

As she completed a circle of the main floor, she noticed something lying at the top of the winding staircase. As she climbed the steps she recognised it as a teddy bear. It had been Henry's favourite toy when he was a toddler, he had never gone anywhere without it. Regina smiled sadly as she picked up the fluffy light brown stuffed animal. It must have fallen out of the last box that Emma had carried down to her car.

If only Henry could have stayed that age forever. Back then he had loved her, truly loved her. He actually wanted to spend time with her and always had absolute and undoubting faith in her. She remembered him being so smart already, and remembered herself being so proud to watch him grow up. If only she had known then what was to come, she would have cherished that time much more dearly.

Hugging the teddy bear to her abdomen, she ascended the rest of the staircase and soon found herself outside of Henry's room. No, his old room. Regina held on to the door frame, almost afraid to enter. To step inside and see all of his personal belongings cleared away would mean Henry was officially gone.

_"That's silly." _She thought to herself. _"You already know he's gone."_

Taking a cautious step forward, she entered the room. Most of the furniture was still there, but the shelves and surfaces were completely empty. Standing there in the middle of the room and holding her only relic from Henry's childhood, she felt incredibly alone.

Regina sat down on the bed; hugging the floppy worn out stuffed animal and letting herself cry until she had no more tears left in her to shed.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_**Present Day: **_

Henry awoke at 6:30, he had originally set his alarm clock so he could have plenty of time to get ready for his new school, but now instead he started thinking about his trip back to Storybrooke. Sleeping hadn't made him change his mind, in fact he was more set than before on going back. He threw the covers back excitedly and hopped out of bed. He walked over to Emma's room, she had left her door open and Henry half-stepped inside.

"Emma?" He whispered.

She was fast asleep and didn't respond.

"Emma?" He said louder.

The blonde stirred, groaning.

"Emma!"

She quickly sat up in a panic, "What! What is it?"

"It's 6:30."

"Ya...?"

"So I think you should get up."

"Oh." She slumped back into the pillows, now wide awake.

Henry entered the room and sat on her bed as she allowed her mind to catch up with her body.

"Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Henry grinned.

Emma sat grudgingly back up and slid her legs out from under the covers, yawning into her hand.

"Why are you up so early? Did you decide to give your new school a chance?"

"No, I just forgot to turn off my alarm."

"Oh..."

"I want to go back."

Emma nodded. "Alright, why don't we talk about it over breakfast?"

"Ok."

"I'm just going to go have a quick shower, but why don't you get dressed and give it some more thought. I want you to really think about it because we can't keep moving back and forth like this. If you go back you're going to have to commit to it; for now at least. If you go back to Storybrooke only to end up leaving again, think about what it will do to your mom. She'd be devastated. So I want you to be absolutely sure, without a doubt, positive that you don't want to stay here ok?"

"Ok." Henry said again, although he was certain he had already made up his mind.

_**fifteen minutes later**_

Emma and Henry were sitting on stools at the kitchen counter, they both had a bowl of Fruit Loops in front of them and Emma had a fresh mug of coffee in her hand.

"I want you to think about the reasons why you wanted to leave Storybrooke in the first place." Emma said. "Do you remember what they were?"

Henry thought. "I didn't want to be sad anymore. I thought it was my mom's fault."

"But you don't anymore?"

Henry chewed a spoonful of cereal. "Now I'm not so sure. I don't really feel any different here. Except now I'm missing home."

"I think you just need to give it some time. Rough patches are hard to get through and you only just got here, everything is still unfamiliar and new. Once you've settled in you will feel much differently. This can grow to be your home too."

Henry shrugged. "I don't know."

"Listen, I'll go with whatever it is you decide on, but my instincts are telling me that you should stay here. At least for one school term. That way you will really know if Boston is the right place for you or not."

Henry thought about it and was starting to feel anxious. Emma was right. This was a really big decision. But he had already gotten so excited about going back... They ate in silence for a while as Henry's thoughts conflicted him.

After a few minutes Emma spoke up. "You said you thought it was your mom's fault that you were unhappy. Why did you think that?"

Henry remained silent for a while. "I think because... she was always so busy and didn't seem to have enough time for me."

"If you went back," Emma continued softly, "why would it be any different than it was before?" Emma wasn't saying this simply to make him upset, she didn't want to send him back if he was going to end up regretting it.

"Because last night I was remembering how she started acting after I asked her if I could move in with you. She started trying to talk to me a lot more and tried to spend more time with me, but I wouldn't let her because I was still mad at her and I thought... I thought she didn't deserve it. That she had lost her chance. But I think maybe it was partly my fault that we stopped being as close as we used to. I blamed her for not paying enough attention to me, but I know that I was the one who stopped wanting to spend time with her first."

Emma had stopped eating to listen to him. "Henry you can't blame this on yourself." She said gently. "There must have been a _reason_ you pulled away from Regina."

"I don't even remember why now." Henry sad guiltily. "I just know that it was stupid and I wish I never did. A few days before we left she told me that if I stayed with her she promised she would try really hard to be a better mom. I thought she was lying and was just saying that to get me to stay, but I think she might actually have been telling the truth and I want to give her another chance. I miss her, and not just because I'm here, I think I missed her before we left."

Emma heartbrokenly listened to the burdens of the ten-year old; he was much too young to have to be dealing with all of this. "So what happens when you go back to Storybrooke? Do you think everything will magically be better? As much as I want to believe it for your sake, that's just not how these things usually go."

"I still think we have to try."

"You've reached your final decision then?"

"Ya."

"Ok, I'll talk to your new school later and tell them what's going on." She reached out and patted his hand. "I hope this all works out. I really do."

"Me too. Thanks Emma."

She stood up to clear her empty breakfast bowl away.

"Oh, and Emma?"

She looked at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry I put you through this."

Emma smiled. "Don't worry about me kid. I'm made of strong stuff." She put the bowl back on the counter and pulled him into a big hug which he gladly returned. "Now, why don't you go try calling your mom again."

"Good idea." He bounded off towards his room to get the phone.

He was going home.


	4. Chapter 4

"Emma?" Henry walked over to the couch where she was seated, his shoulders sagging.

"Ya?" She looked up from the papers she was leaning over.

"She's still not answering either." He plopped down beside her.

Emma noticed the hint of worry in his eyes. "Oh... well... she could still be asleep and didn't hear the phone. It is still pretty early after all."

"No my mom's usually up by now. She knows your number right?"

"I gave it to her before we left."

"If she saw the number she would know it was us. So why won't she answer?"

"Henry there could be a lot of reasons. Maybe she was busy with work last night, and this morning she could have been in the shower when you called."

"She showers at night."

"Well... maybe not last night. Or maybe the phone's battery is dead."

"I tried both her cell and the home phone."

Emma bit her lip, "hmmm."

"Do you think everything is okay?" Henry asked. "Do you think _she's_ okay?"

Emma pulled him into an embrace when she saw how torn up he was becoming. "I'm sure she is kid. Try not to worry, we'll try phoning again in a little while. She's probably fine."

"I hope so."

"Me too. But in the mean time I think we should just wait. We shouldn't start packing everything up before we even let your mom know we're coming. It would be wrong to just barge in on her like that."

Henry broke the hug, "okay... but then what should we do until we call her again?"

Emma checked her watch, it was barely passed 7:00. "I'm just looking over the forms for school, but I still have to call them. I wonder if anyone is there yet..." She somewhat mumbled the last bit to herself. "Maybe not."

Henry stared at her.

"TV?" She suggested.

"I guess."

"I know your anxious, but we just have to be patient for now. Let's not worry until we know there is something to worry about. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm sorry, I know it sucks but there isn't much else we can do right now."

"I know."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ten minutes later Henry had decided to try calling Regina again, not seeing a reason to wait any longer. Emma watched Henry with a small frown on her face, hoping for Henry's sake that Regina would pick up.

She got her answer when Henry hung up and the phone slipped from his fingers onto the couch.

"What do we do?" He asked, his eyes had a lost look in them.

Emma sighed. "This isn't like Regina is it?"

Henry shook his head.

Maybe there was something to worry about after all. "I think I'm going to call Mary Margaret. She might be able to tell us what's going on."

Now it was Henry's turn to watch with bated breath as Emma dialed the phone. She gave him a reassuring smile as she waited.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mary Margaret, it's Emma."

"Hey! How is everything? Is Henry liking Boston?"

Emma looked at Henry, "he does but he's not sure he's going to stay. He wants to go home." She gave him a small smile.

"Oh no, I'm sorry Emma."

"It's fine really, but it looks like we'll be heading back to Storybrooke soon. And that's actually why I'm calling. I have a question to ask."

"Go on."

"Have you seen or heard from Regina at all in the past few days?"

There was silence as Mary Margaret thought about it. "Come to think of it... no. Not since last Friday. But there could be a lot of reasons for that, it was the weekend after all and she might have just stayed at home. Why are you asking, is something wrong?"

"We wanted to let her know we were coming. Henry has been phoning her both at home and on her cell since last night and she hasn't picked up."

"Hmm... well it's only been a few hours right? Maybe she just went somewhere and forgot to bring her phone with her."

"I wondered that too, but when I thought about it, Regina doesn't really go anywhere overnight does she? Like, ever."

Henry shook his head.

"I wouldn't really know." Mary Margaret said.

"So... could you do me a favour?"

"You want me to go to Regina's house to see if she is there."

"Thanks Mary Margaret!"

She laughed, "No problem. I can go before work and I'll call you with whatever I find out."

"That's perfect! And sorry for making you do this at such short notice."

"Don't worry about it, if it's for Henry I am happy to. I'll talk to you in a bit."

"Thanks, talk to you soon."

"Bye."

_Click_

"So is Miss Blanchard going to look for my mom?"

"Yep, and she's going to call us back afterwards."

"Can't we leave now? I don't need to bring all of my stuff right away and now that Ms. Blanchard is looking for my mom, she'll know we are coming and we won't be barging in. Please?"

Emma could recognise the eagerness of a kid who didn't want to miss out on anything.

"Henry I think we should just wait. If Mary Margaret finds Regina then we can talk to her and we could bring everything in one trip and save a hell of time, not to mention money on gas."

"But what if something's wrong?"

"We'll know really soon. Mary Margaret is going to your house before she heads to the school and she leaves pretty early. She'll be leaving in a few minutes."

"Okay..."

"If it makes you feel better we can start organising some of your things to pack up."

"Alright, I guess."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Mary Margaret was heading down Mifflin Street when she ran into David.

"Morning Mary Margaret."

"David, hi! What are you doing out here so early?"

"I was just returning a lost dog to a family up the street. I found him wandering around on my way to work and the address was on his tags."

Mary Margaret smiled.

"What about you?"

"Oh, Emma sent me to look for Regina, apparently Henry has been trying to contact her and can't get through."

"Really? I hope everything is okay"

"Me too, I'm just about to go see if she's home."

"Would you like some company? I could walk you to work after if you want."

"That would be nice. Thank you!" She stood there just smiling at him, until he gestured forward indicating that they should move. "Oh right," she blushed and then started walking, David laughed as he followed her.

When they reached number 108 Mary Margaret rang the doorbell and they waited. After a minute or so she tried again. Mary Margaret frowned as she tried to peer into one of the windows beside the front door while David checked the driveway.

"Well, her car is still here so either she's home or she walked somewhere. See anything?"

"Nope, it's all dark inside."

"Maybe she's already left for work?"

"I don't know, I usually pass her on my way to the school when she walks. I guess I did leave a bit earlier today... but I still probably would have passed her on my way here."

"Where else would she be?"

"I don't know... Okay, before I call Emma back and end up just worrying Henry, I think we should check her office first just in case she _is_ there."

David nodded.

"Ugh, I knew I should have driven today."

He smiled as she started to walk back towards the road.

"Wait," she tried the front door. It was locked. "Figured as much but I had to try."

"Want to try the other doors while you're at it?"

"Only if you'll vouch for me that I wasn't breaking and entering if we get caught."

"I didn't know you had a rebellious side." He grinned as he followed her around the side of the house.

They reached a side door and found it locked too.

"I wonder..." muttered David as he searched around for a spare key, lifting the mat and nearby flower pots.

"Do you really think Regina of all people would leave a key to her house..." she stopped as David held up a shiny key in front of her face.

"Hey, you were the one who tried the front door."

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's kind of awkward that it ended up having similar concepts to this week's episode, like the Charmings looking for Regina and Henry worrying about her. For a few days I was thinking of maybe re-writing it, but the story is completely different to the episode so I thought it would be safe to post. _


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:** Here is the next chapter, sorry it took so long to update. **Warning:** this chapter is causing the rating of the story to increase to T. I just thought I would let you know as a precaution._

* * *

Mary Margaret and David had entered Regina's house, they stood just inside the door for a minute listening for sounds of life but the house was completely silent.

"Regina?" Mary Margaret called. "Are you home? It's Mary Margaret! And David's here too. We just came to see if you're okay!"

"Regina!" David called after waiting a few moments and receiving no reply.

"Come on, let's check the rest of the house." Mary Margaret said.

"Should we split up?"

"No let's stay together, it won't take long to look around."

"Alright," David nodded his agreement as he followed her down the hallway.

They discovered that the curtains were drawn shut on all of the windows casting the whole house in darkness.

"It's nice in here," Mary Margaret whispered taking in all of the classy decor. "I don't think I've ever actually been inside Regina's house before."

"It definitely suits her." David said before they headed into the kitchen.

After searching the entire first floor and finding not a soul, they continued on to the upper level. David hung back as Mary Margaret entered what turned out to be Henry's bedroom, he felt like if they did find Regina it would be best to give her as less a surprise as possible.

Henry's room was dark just like the rest of the house, but it was also barren, giving it a forlorn and dismal feeling. Ignoring the tug at her heart caused by the thought of any mother having to say goodbye to her child, Mary Margaret had a quick look around and returned to David, shaking her head.

David waited as Mary Margaret headed towards the next room. When she got to the doorway she stopped with her hands on the frame and quickly turned back towards David. "She's in there." Mary Margaret whispered in shock.

David immediately joined Mary Margaret. "Is she asleep?"

Mary Margaret gathered her courage and hurried into the room, coming to a stop at Regina's side. The mayor was curled up on the bed, wearing blue silk pajamas underneath a grey housecoat and hugging an old child's toy to her chest, a teddy bear. Mary Margaret glanced up a little fearfully at David before kneeling on the floor beside the bed.

"Regina?"

Regina didn't even stir at the noise. Mary Margaret swallowed and reached out to touch the woman's arm, shaking her gently.

"She's not... Is she?" David asked cautiously, stepping closer to see if he could tell whether or not Regina was breathing.

When there was still no response Mary Margaret tried to check her pulse. The way Regina was holding the teddy bear made it difficult for Mary Margaret to feel her wrist, so she raised two fingers to her neck instead.

"Her skin is ice cold," Mary Margaret whispered.

"Do you feel a pulse?" David knelt beside her, trying to figure out what he should do.

Mary Margaret shook her head slowly.

"Wait," she breathed. "Yes, there it is! Oh thank god. But it's really weak..."

"Maybe she's just in a really deep sleep."

Mary Margaret started to stand up when her hand brushed something that had fallen under the nightstand. Reaching down she felt something cold and plastic.

"Oh no... David phone the hospital, we need an ambulance now!"

She was holding an empty pill bottle.

"Oh my god," David took out his phone and started dialing.

Mary Margaret tried shaking Regina and shouting her name, she would have a better chance of surviving if she would wake up. Mary Margaret could hear David talking as she kept trying. She noticed a glass sitting on the table and she picked it up to see if it was water that she could use to splash on Regina's face. There wasn't much liquid left in it, but a whiff from the glass told Mary Margaret that it was some sort of alcohol. In frustration she placed the cup a little too forcefully back onto the table.

"They're on their way," David informed her as he tucked his phone away.

"Why would she do this?" Mary Margaret said sadly to no one in particular.

"Hey, I have an idea, if we can get her to throw up at least some of the pills she might be stable long enough to get her to the hospital." He saw the shocked expression Mary Margaret was giving him so he added, "I can do it. It might work, it's worth a shot anyways."

Mary Margaret nodded a little faintly and stepped back so David could sit down and pull Regina into a sitting position against his chest. Mary Margaret had to look away as David forced Regina's mouth open and stuck his hand in all the way to the back.

There was no noise and Mary Margaret was sure it hadn't worked, but a few seconds later the sound of coughing met her ears and she turned around in astonishment. David was holding Regina so she was facing the floor, making it easier to clear her airway. Mary Margaret composed herself just in time to see a trash bin on the other side of the nightstand and shove it in front of the mayor. The coughing sounded painful, but at least she was emptying her stomach of the toxins.

After a few minutes of horrible retching, Regina began gasping for air as she buried her face in her hands. David began to rub comforting circles on her back and Mary Margaret sat down beside them and touched the other woman's arm.

"It's okay honey," Mary Margaret soothed, "the ambulance is on its way. You're going to be alright."

Regina was shaking uncontrollably, she dropped her hands from her face which was now covered in tears and instead she wrapped her arms around her upset stomach. She closed her eyes, her expression a mess of emotions.

"What are you two even doing here? How did you know?" Regina whispered weakly, looking quite dazed.

"Emma called me this morning," Mary Margaret answered quietly. "Apparently Henry has been trying to get through to you and he's been worried about you since you haven't been answering. And It turns out he had good reason to be. Why did you try to do this?"

Regina opened her eyes, "Henry? Henry was trying to... talk to me?"

"Yes, did you not get any of the phone calls?"

Regina shook her head. Closing her eyes again. "I was out last night," she said heavily. " I forgot my phone here and I didn't go back for it because I didn't think I would need it. I guess I never checked it." She groaned in pain, clutching her stomach even harder. "So stupid..." she muttered, angry for doing this to herself.

David wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to get her to stop shivering. "It's ok It won't hurt for long, I can hear the ambulance now. Just hang in there."

Regina wiped some of the tears away and sighed indignantly.

Mary Margaret stood up, "I'm sorry, can you two excuse me for a minute? I need to call work to tell them I'm not coming in this morning."

"You don't need to miss work for me," Regina said somewhat bitterly, "the ambulance is already on its way. You can go if you want." She was trying to keep her mask up but Mary Margaret saw right through it; Regina was embarrassed and didn't want them to witness any more of her shame.

"Don't be silly," Mary Margaret said, "I just want to make sure you're ok that's all. Besides I'm going to have to call Emma with an update on your condition after the doctors have had a look at you."

Regina looked towards the floor and shook her head softly. Her expression suddenly changed and she grabbed for the bin that Mary Margaret had left on the floor. David held her hair back as she threw up more of the drugs.

"That's it," he said kindly. "Get it all out."

Mary Margaret held up her phone to him and he nodded in response, she left the room.

When Regina had stopped coughing she let a few more tears slip from her eyes.

David rubbed her arms as she gasped desperately for air. "How long ago did you take the pills?"

"Mmm, I don't know..." She cleared her throat, "A bit before 6:30 I guess."

"This morning?"

She nodded, covering her mouth with her hand.

"You're lucky you didn't swallow any more than you did, that's quite some time ago. You're lucky to be alive."

Feeling extremely lightheaded and weak, she allowed herself to lean back against him and shut her eyes tightly. "You must think I'm a complete idiot don't you?" She breathed heavily, trying not to whimper from the agony and humiliate herself even further.

"No actually Regina I don't... I know there must have been a good reason for your doing this." He passed her a tissue and she self-consciously wiped the corners of her mouth. David waited for a few moments. "Why did you do this?"

"I don't have to tell you that." She said, pulling her housecoat tighter around her.

"Did it have anything to do with your son leaving?"

Regina swallowed and dropped her gaze downwards again as the doorbell rang. The paramedics were let into the house by Mary Margaret and they took Regina outside to the ambulance.

As David and Mary Margaret found their own way to the hospital, Mary Margaret finally returned Emma's call to give her the news. She hoped Emma would be able to find an easier way to tell Henry what had happened.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sunday Night: Storybrooke**

Regina shivered in the cold damp air of the cemetery. It was completely dark out, and the moon was barely visible through the storm clouds. It was probably not the best idea to come out here so late at night but she didn't care. Who else did she have to turn to?

She stepped across the dewy grass towards her family mausoleum and entered the room that was even darker than it was outside. There were small lights installed on the walls but she didn't feel the need to turn them on, her eyes were already adjusting. She stood just inside the doorway hugging herself, staring down at her father's tombstone.

_Henry Mills_

Seeing the name dragged the pain back in full force. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. If it hadn't been for the words "_Beloved Father"_, this tombstone could easily look like it was for her son. As if she had really lost him not to Emma, but to death; and she had only made up the story of Henry moving to Boston with Emma to make herself feel better. Knowing Henry was alive and happy was much nicer than thinking he was simply gone from the world forever.

Regina shook her head, why was she thinking like this? She rubbed her forehead trying to get the images of a now lifeless Henry out of her head. Henry was alive and well. Henry was with Emma. Henry was happy. It wasn't just a story it was the truth, and this tombstone was her father's, not her son's.

She decided instead to go downstairs to visit Daniel.

When she reached the glass coffin she looked heartbrokenly down at the man who still looked perfect even though it had been decades since his passing. She placed her palm on the glass and didn't even try to stop the tears that were escaping through her lashes. How had her life turned out this way? When she was young and still with Daniel, she had imagined herself growing old with him, being surrounded by children and being happy until the day she died. But instead she had gotten a life full of misery, disappointment and betrayal.

Regina found herself sitting on the floor beside the coffin, her head resting against the side of it and her arms wrapped around her waist. There was no one here to witness her despair so she didn't hold back as heavy sobs overtook her body and fresh tears streamed down her face.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Regina blinked her eyes open groggily. The light from the room pierced her vision as she tried to take in her surroundings. Her muscles ached and her legs felt numb. She rubbed her arms as the cold hit her. She must have fallen asleep next to Daniel.

She checked the time and sucked in her breath as she realised it was 4:00 in the morning.

Her body protested as she pulled herself into a standing position to head home. She wasn't looking forward to the short journey back but it had to be done unless she wanted to spend the rest of the night in the graveyard. Before leaving she placed a kiss to her fingers and pressed them gently against the glass of the coffin.

"Goodbye Daniel," she whispered.

Driving home through the barren streets of Storybrooke, the loneliness crept back into her heart. By the time she had reached her dark and empty house her vision was blurred by more tears. As she entered the silent building she realised that her life was destined to be like this until the end.

Her last hope for happiness had been Henry, but he was gone, he didn't need her anymore.

And she no longer had anything to live for.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Monday: Boston **(Present)

"She what?!" Emma exclaimed into the phone, then realising Henry was watching her she composed herself. She walked across the room and lowered her voice, "how is she? Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm sorry Emma I don't know anything yet. David was able to wake her up and I think she got a lot of the drugs out of her system but I'd have to wait to hear what Doctor Whale says before I can tell you for certain. But I'm sure she's going to be fine."

"Let's hope you're right," Emma glanced over at Henry who was kneeling on the couch and leaning over the back of it to watch her conversation. When he saw her expression he slid off the couch and approached her.

"What is it? Something's wrong. Is it my mom? Is she okay?"

Emma apologetically held her hand up to him to indicate that she was listening to Mary Margaret.

"Emma!" Henry pleaded.

Emma covered the phone with her hand and whispered "Just a minute okay?"

"Tell me what's going on!" Henry whispered back.

Emma held her finger to her lips. "Sorry Mary Margaret, could you repeat that?"

"I said Regina's lucky she made it this far. But the fact that she did tells me that she is going to make it. Just be careful with the way you tell Henry." She dropped her voice. "We don't want him thinking this was his fault."

"No of course not."

"Good luck, I'm sorry you have to be the one to tell him."

"It's okay, I'd rather it be me."

"Hey are you guys still going to come up here today? I think it would do both Regina and Henry a world of good."

"Ya I think we'd better." Emma shook her head at the turn this day had taken.

"Great, well I guess I'll talk to you later? I'll call you with any updates."

"Thanks Mary Margaret."

_Beep_

"Emma what did she say? What's going on?"

Emma frowned. She doubted there was any good way of telling him his mother had tried to commit suicide. She placed a hand on his shoulder and led him back over to the couch.

"Henry... something's happened. Regina... your mom... she's in the hospital."

Henry's eyes widened, "What? Why what happened to her?"

"Well she uh... you see... she swallowed a lot of pills and it made her sick."

"What do you mean? Was it an accident?"

Emma sighed, she'd never had a conversation like this before. At least not with a kid. How much could a ten year old handle? "I don't know. But she's in good hands now. The doctors will take really good care of her I promise."

"Emma is my mom gonna die?" Henry asked, tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

"No. No Henry's she's not going to die," Emma said softly, pulling him into a hug. "She's going to be just fine."

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do," Emma ruffled his hair before he pulled back, looking up at her desperately.

"Now can we leave? We should have left already! She's hurt! I want to see her, please Emma we have to go!" Henry stood up and tugged on her hand so she would stand too.

"Ya kid we can go. Why don't you go grab a few things and meet me back here in ten minutes?"

"Okay," Henry ran off and Emma watched him sadly. This is not what she had expected when she had brought Henry back here.


	7. Chapter 7

"How far away are we now?" Henry asked for what to Emma felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Still one more hour." Emma responded patiently.

"Can't you drive any faster?" Henry urged.

"Not unless you want us to get arrested."

Henry slumped into his seat.

"Henry, I know it's hard, but try not to worry. Like I said before your mom's in good hands. She'll be okay."

"But what if she's not? How can you know?"

Emma sighed. "You know I can't know for sure, but... Mary Margaret said there is a good chance she will be okay. We have to believe that."

When Henry didn't respond Emma cast a quick glance at him. He was staring glumly out of the window and remained silent for the next while. A few times that day he had tried to phone Mary Margaret but Emma said that if there was any news she had promised to phone them as soon as she could.

After a few minutes of more silence Emma allowed herself another side peak at Henry.

"Hey," she said lightly, "I know you are upset but can you please not take it out on my car?" She grinned at him.

He appeared to break out of a trance as he looked back at her. "Sorry..." he muttered. "I didn't even notice." He stopped picking at a tear in the seat and lifted his backpack from the floor onto his lap.

"Don't worry about it."

Instead of pulling his book out of the bag like Emma had expected he just hugged it instead, resuming his staring-but-not-seeing out of the window.

"Did she do it on purpose?" Henry asked quietly.

"What?"

"My mom. Did she swallow the pills on purpose?"

"I... I don't know Henry."

"I think she did."

"You do?"

Henry nodded. "How does someone swallow that many pills by accident? She must have known what she was doing. Unless someone else forced her to, which they didn't right?"

Emma tilted her head, she should have known Henry would know the truth. He wasn't stupid. "No I don't think so."

"So she must have done it on purpose. Why would she do that?"

"I don't know Henry..."

"Do you think... do you think it was because of me?"

Emma shot a quick, heartbroken glance at him. He looked distraught. Another soft "I don't know..." was all she could manage.

"It's my fault, I know it is."

"Henry don't say that, of course it's not."

"If I hadn't of left, this never would have happened. She wouldn't be in the hospital."

"Don't think like that, this wasn't your fault okay?"

Henry sniffed.

"Henry this was not your fault."

He didn't respond.

"Okay?"

The boy nodded but turned his head towards the window in attempt to hide his face from her view.

Emma gripped the steering wheel hard and glared at the back of the car in front of her. She couldn't help but feel angry at Regina for toying with Henry's feelings this way.

* * *

**STORYBROOKE GENERAL HOSPITAL**:

"Should you go in alone? Maybe we shouldn't crowd her right now." David said in a low voice. He and Mary Margaret were in the hallway outside Regina's room.

"It might be better if you went in, I don't think Regina's ever liked me very much. You're kind of friends with her aren't you?"

"A little, but mostly because of Kathryn. I mean we've talked a few times but I wouldn't say we are extremely close. Why don't we just both go in?"

"That might be best."

David motioned for her to go first so she led the way.

"It's too bad Henry and Emma aren't here yet," Mary Margaret sighed.

Regina looked up as the pair entered and it was obvious that she was less than pleased to see them. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as they approached.

"Hey Regina, how are you feeling?" Mary Margaret ignored the look the mayor was giving her and took a seat.

"What are you two still doing here? Don't you have jobs to get to?" Her tone had its usual sharpness but the weariness was evident in her eyes.

"Well I have a substitute covering my class for me..."

"And I was able to get the morning off." David finished.

"Listen," Regina took in a deep breath, "while I appreciate your... saving me, I don't wish to be babysat. I don't require either of you to stay with me so why don't you just go do... whatever it is you do in your free time."

"Regina we aren't here because we think we have to be, we just want to be sure that you're okay." David said.

Regina shook her head slightly, thinking that she'd never be _'okay'_.

"I'm fine. And I think I'd just like to go home now, this has all been humiliating enough."

Mary Margaret and David exchanged a glance as Regina made to get out of the bed, fumbling with the wire from the heart rate monitor as it got caught in one of the bed sheets.

"Umm... Regina you can't leave yet." Mary Margaret stood up to try to stop the other brunette from getting up. Doctor Whale hasn't discharged you yet."

Regina looked down in surprise as she felt Mary Margaret's hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Regina he said he wants to keep you overnight for observation."

"Observation?" Regina repeated.

Mary Margaret nodded. When she saw the silent outrage in the other woman's eyes she raised her hands as if in surrender. When she was sure Regina wouldn't try to make a run for it she went back to her seat.

"This is preposterous, I'm fine."

"Talk to Doctor Whale about it, it's not up to us." David said reasonably.

Regina folded her arms and when she wasn't looking Mary Margaret glanced at David with a look that said clearly, '_Regina is back to normal.'_

After a moment of somewhat awkward silence Mary Margaret spoke up. "Henry will be here soon."

Regina looked up. "What?"

"Ya, they left as soon as they could. Henry really wants to see you."

"He does?" Regina asked incredulously.

"Yes, in fact that's why he's been calling you. He wants to come home." Mary Margaret said kindly.

Regina's eyes softened as she looked back and forth from David to Mary Margaret, trying to read their expressions. "Are you sure?"

Mary Margaret smiled, nodding her head.

"Do you know why?"

"I think he misses you."

Regina was moved. "Really?" she breathed.

Mary Margaret nodded.

"Apparently he wanted to leave last night." David said.

Regina frowned and David studied her. If only she had gotten that call last night, there was a good chance she wouldn't have ended up in the hospital this morning.

Even though she was staring at her clasped hands in her lap Regina could feel the other two watching her. She knew they had noticed the tears that had just formed in her eyes but she didn't care. They had seen enough this morning, what difference did it make at this point?

"You really miss him don't you?" David asked gently.

Regina couldn't speak, she covered her mouth with her hand as she began to weep.

Mary Margaret went to sit beside her, and with some hesitation she placed a comforting arm around Regina. She was slightly surprised when the mayor did not object.


End file.
